This website was, for years, a 100 percent advertising-free-zone.
That had to change a teensy bit (it's now a 99.9 percent ad-free zone) so I could keep this site a free resource to anyone with an Internet connection and a little curiousity.
So yes, there is now one ad on this site, but solely for a very high quality, tough-as-nails, meat grinder sold by a company I respect immensely. I bought my meat grinder from them - and even purchased a "backup grinder" from them, just in case my ten-year old grinder ever waves the white flag of surrender after processing, quite literally, over a ton of food. I love that company.
I've also now included links on the site for ordering non-meat supplies at iHerb because, well, when you use those, you get a discount on your first order and I get nice little credits I can use to help pay for the ingredients I use to make food for Wilson and Sidney-Beans.
I refuse to have Google ads finance this site, so I happily will accept your direct support. Don't get me wrong, I love Google too, but the idea of random ads popping up for "healthy natural dry food" on this site makes me break out in hives. I just can't do it.
I tried it briefly a few years ago, but I laid awake at night thinking someone would visit this site looking for unbiased information on cat feeding from someone not motivated by money - and then see an ad for one of the very brands and formulations that I know very well makes cats sick. I had to stop.
I'm not against commerce or making money. I am, however, extra-sensitive to the confusion that can result for many when trying to become better informed on an issue like this - particularly if they have to try to figure out what's presented to them in order to get them to BUY something, versus what's presented in order to amp up their knowledge.
This website has been a labor of love (mostly). I was determined in 2003 to create a site that had the kind of one-stop information-shopping that I longed for when I first started getting my own education in feline nutrition and began making my own cat food.
My success with the diet was so conspicuous and welcome that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But the Internet would work well too, I figured, and probably reach more people. Also, it would keep my neighbors from calling guys in suits to haul me away. That wouldn't be pretty.
My goal is solely to help people to help their animals live healthier lives and to shed light on the folly of feeding dry cereal to carnivores. I've been asked what my "agenda" is - and that's it. That folks feed their cats well so the cats don't needlessly suffer.
No joke, the greatest way you can repay me is to feed your cats well. And, okay, maybe you could make some noise with your vet about getting smart on feline nutrition from unbiased sources, rather than relying on the pet food industry to act as a proxy for something as important as nutritional decisionmaking in health care. If you do that? I'm more than compensated for the effort.
But if you want to do more than that? Here's the deal.
In the spring of 2007, visits to this site grew astronomically as news of the massive pet food recall sparked fresh interest in the idea of making cat food. I was delighted. And overwhelmed with emails. My web hosting service notified me that I'd begun exceeding web traffic limits and the time to purchase more bandwidth was upon me. A few years later, I realized the site would benefit from having features such as embedded video, a user-friendly blogging platform, blah blah blah. Then there was the speedy rise of social media as a wonderful way to get the word out - a time-gobbling thing in its own right. All that has been out of pocket and during "spare time" - and absolutely worth every second and every red penny. I learn so much from the visitors to this site.
There is, realistically, a limit to how much I will spend out of pocket to keep this all going, current, fresh, and relevant. Financial support is just one way you can send the message that this work is helpful.
So? If you've found this site useful and you're inspired to help to financially support the maintenance of this website, you can make a contribution of any size through PayPal (just click on the button below). No, it's not tax-deductible. I pay taxes on what you contribute. This is not a registered nonprofit. This is a one-woman show. But I do get by with a little help from my friends too.
That had to change a teensy bit (it's now a 99.9 percent ad-free zone) so I could keep this site a free resource to anyone with an Internet connection and a little curiousity.
So yes, there is now one ad on this site, but solely for a very high quality, tough-as-nails, meat grinder sold by a company I respect immensely. I bought my meat grinder from them - and even purchased a "backup grinder" from them, just in case my ten-year old grinder ever waves the white flag of surrender after processing, quite literally, over a ton of food. I love that company.
I've also now included links on the site for ordering non-meat supplies at iHerb because, well, when you use those, you get a discount on your first order and I get nice little credits I can use to help pay for the ingredients I use to make food for Wilson and Sidney-Beans.
I refuse to have Google ads finance this site, so I happily will accept your direct support. Don't get me wrong, I love Google too, but the idea of random ads popping up for "healthy natural dry food" on this site makes me break out in hives. I just can't do it.
I tried it briefly a few years ago, but I laid awake at night thinking someone would visit this site looking for unbiased information on cat feeding from someone not motivated by money - and then see an ad for one of the very brands and formulations that I know very well makes cats sick. I had to stop.
I'm not against commerce or making money. I am, however, extra-sensitive to the confusion that can result for many when trying to become better informed on an issue like this - particularly if they have to try to figure out what's presented to them in order to get them to BUY something, versus what's presented in order to amp up their knowledge.
This website has been a labor of love (mostly). I was determined in 2003 to create a site that had the kind of one-stop information-shopping that I longed for when I first started getting my own education in feline nutrition and began making my own cat food.
My success with the diet was so conspicuous and welcome that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But the Internet would work well too, I figured, and probably reach more people. Also, it would keep my neighbors from calling guys in suits to haul me away. That wouldn't be pretty.
My goal is solely to help people to help their animals live healthier lives and to shed light on the folly of feeding dry cereal to carnivores. I've been asked what my "agenda" is - and that's it. That folks feed their cats well so the cats don't needlessly suffer.
No joke, the greatest way you can repay me is to feed your cats well. And, okay, maybe you could make some noise with your vet about getting smart on feline nutrition from unbiased sources, rather than relying on the pet food industry to act as a proxy for something as important as nutritional decisionmaking in health care. If you do that? I'm more than compensated for the effort.
But if you want to do more than that? Here's the deal.
In the spring of 2007, visits to this site grew astronomically as news of the massive pet food recall sparked fresh interest in the idea of making cat food. I was delighted. And overwhelmed with emails. My web hosting service notified me that I'd begun exceeding web traffic limits and the time to purchase more bandwidth was upon me. A few years later, I realized the site would benefit from having features such as embedded video, a user-friendly blogging platform, blah blah blah. Then there was the speedy rise of social media as a wonderful way to get the word out - a time-gobbling thing in its own right. All that has been out of pocket and during "spare time" - and absolutely worth every second and every red penny. I learn so much from the visitors to this site.
There is, realistically, a limit to how much I will spend out of pocket to keep this all going, current, fresh, and relevant. Financial support is just one way you can send the message that this work is helpful.
So? If you've found this site useful and you're inspired to help to financially support the maintenance of this website, you can make a contribution of any size through PayPal (just click on the button below). No, it's not tax-deductible. I pay taxes on what you contribute. This is not a registered nonprofit. This is a one-woman show. But I do get by with a little help from my friends too.
If you do offer financial support? Wow! Thank you.
I thank you. Wilson thanks you. Sidney Beans thanks you. My husband thanks you.
Another small but very meaningful way to help is to order your supplies from iHerb. They have a nifty little rewards program that's a win-win. If you use this link, the first time you order you'll save money. You can just click on the green banner thingamajammer here. Me? Full disclosure is that I accumulate credits over time that I can apply toward buying the ingredients I use when I make food for my cats (I pay taxes on that too, in case you wondered.) Your call, of course. You should get your supplies wherever makes sense. But gosh, if you're ordering online anyway? They have great prices and lightning-fast shipping. I used them before I even knew about this rewards program - scout's honor, I did!
If you use this link to the full shopping cart of the ingredients I use - and have never ordered from iHerb before - you'll save $10 off your first order of the dry ingredients used in this recipe.
Finally, since people ask me this question all the time, here are the names of a handful of my favorite
charities and nonprofits where you might also choose to make a donation to show your support for my efforts - I don't get the direct 'benefit' from donations to these organizations, but they are near and dear to my heart and that's a great gift to me as well:
- The Feathered Pipe Foundation. There is no organization in the world that's made a bigger difference, in every positive way, in my life. Donating to this organization means more to me than words can ever express.
- Animal Allies, a Northern Virginia all-volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue of homeless and abandoned animals. Our beloved Sidney Beans is from Animal Allies, so they have an extra special place in my heart.
- TLC Adoptions, a magnificent all-volunteer West Coast cat rescue and adoption organization founded in 1991 that has placed over 3,000 cats and kittens into loving homes. They educate the need to spay and neuter and work extremely hard on 'street rescue' of injured and abandoned cats and kittens.
- So Others Might Eat (SOME), a community organization to help the poor and homeless population in Washington, DC
Thank you.
